‘Can You Really Be a Queer Muslim?’: Intersectionality and the Complexity of Identity
How My Disability and Queerness Intersect, and Why Marginalised Communities Should Unite and Fight
Both the disabled and LGBTQ+ community have been facing inequality for decades. Even though there are more forms of representation and a bigger collective voice, serious issues are still being ignored and we still lack representation in larger bodies such as political landscapes and corporate groups. One way we combat this is by banding together…
‘The World Needs to See More Trans Joy’: Using Kindness to Combat Anger and Embrace a Full Life
This is the first time I’ve written publicly in depth about how difficult my teenage years were. I don’t want to keep it hidden anymore because now I’m in a place where I can be that beacon of hope that my younger self so desperately needed but never got. I can stand up as a happy trans adult and show how joyous my life is…
Babes with Big Feelings: It’s Time to Embrace Empathy and See Being ‘Too Sensitive’ as a Superpower
I cry a lot. But I also smile big. I smile when I see a cute dog. When my friends give me a hug. When it’s a sunny day. I laugh too hard at simple jokes. I have high highs and low lows. My emotions feel big – sometimes uncontainable – yet also normal and natural. Whenever I try to be less sensitive, I end up feeling a huge nothingness: to compress my feelings is to compress my entire being…
It’s Difficult Not to Compare My ‘Before-self’ to My ‘After-self’: Learning to Feel Whole Following a Life-changing Disability
I was thirty-eight years old and had just become a first-time mum. Ten days after giving birth, a blood clot blocked blood and oxygen flow to my brain. In the blink of an eye, my life was split into two parts: Before and After. I interpreted the intent of the stroke as swift justice. I questioned my life before and held up every transgression, perceived or otherwise, as the reason for my ‘punishment’. I also split myself into two parts: Her and Me…